Ancient Roman Fast Food: Thermopolium, the Original Takeaway! Did you know that the ancient Romans invented fast food ? To meet the demand of a hot meal on the go, the Romans invented fast food in the form of the thermopolium which means places where something hot is found And it was a restaurant with a counter where jars of hot food were fitted into holes and covered. The front of the counter would be decorated with the types of food offered like a McDonald's menu today and customers would orde